Sunday 11 June 2017

Ottawa Cycling Tour: driving drivers nuts

Despite the Share The Road Canada and Ottawa Bicycle Club's attempts to help riders, and drivers, manage the road.

  Each year,  for the past 45 years, a large bicycle tour through our region is organized by the Ottawa Bicycle Club. This year, the event will see about 2,000 cyclists on some of our local roads on Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11. 

The trip is on June 10/11, and boy are they slow.  This is weekend traffic, with people driving long distances and I hope there isn't an incident. What a horrid thing to do to the drivers. We were held up a long, long time. Thinking there was a dreadful incident up ahead goes through your mind. There have been several on this stretch of road: e.g., Horrific crash closes a stretch of Highway 15.

This isn't sharing the road. 
Dozens of cars were lined up behind us, too. 

 I wrote about it last July, and I was quoted in our local paper about the mess in Perth. There were trucks, lost in Perth, who hadn't checked their directions, carrying bikes. We went to Smiths Falls for the Pow Wow, and it was a painful drive home!

The sad news is that they come back on Sunday. We'll stay home.
a long, long ride, with hundreds of cars
June 10/11

Ottawa Bicycle Club from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

These three cars, accompanying the cyclists, are obstructing traffic. This, for the sake of 9 cyclists. This is not sharing the road. This is obstructing the road. There were 9 cyclists, holding up dozens of drivers.

It was 20 km/hr, for 3 km. Happily they pulled off for a rest break, but this is a long stretch of road, with much traffic both ways.
This riding in a clump is terribly disrespectful of those driving.
It's constant, and it is going on for the whole season by seasoned, inexperienced and stupid cyclists who DO NOT share the road, exacerbated by drivers who are too aggressive.

8 comments:

eileeninmd said...

I hope everyone stays safe on the roads. Our road here around our lake is hilly and curvy and the cyclists love it, it is dangerous for the cars to pass numerous bicycles riding together.

Lowcarb team member said...

Everyone needs to stay safe on the roads and respect each other ...

All the best Jan

Powell River Books said...

Powell River has been widening roads to create bicycle lanes through rural areas. Roads in town make that impossible.

p.s. Coming to you today from our new satellite Internet at the cabin.

Red said...

More accommodation has to be made for cyclists so that hey don't hold up traffic. I'm all for promoting cycling. I quit riding on roads years ago. Drivers won't give you one inch of the road.

Anvilcloud said...

I am not sure what else the cyclists are supposed to do. They also have a right to the road, and apparently they did pull off when they got a chance.

Jenn Jilks said...

I think, @Anvilcloud, that they should be riding 2 x 2, as is recommended. The three cars in their convoy is quite excessive, all driving about 20km/hour. They could be charged with driving too slow.

Jenn Jilks said...

They could be driving on side roads, as well.

William Kendall said...

You'd think they'd map out a side road route.